Article
| June 17, 2019

Blockchain Brings Opportunity For Channel—But Challenges Too

There are plenty of reasons for solution providers to get excited about blockchain, but there’s also a lot to do before most can develop successful practices, according to members of CompTIA’s Blockchain Advisory Council.

Blockchain, most notably associated with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, uses an open, distributed ledger of data that permanently records transactions through cryptography, timestamps and transactional data—all meant to prevent alteration of the data. But that’s just scratching the surface, according to Jim Gitney, CEO of Group50, an Upland, Calif.-based solution provider and co-chair of CompTIA’s Blockchain Advisory Council.

There are almost limitless possibilities for leveraging blockchain in any industry and any environment, Gitney said. “Many governments around the world recognize blockchain as the most reliable way to document land titles, corporate filings, health care records, transactions and many other things,” he said. “Blockchain is the next generation of the internet. Right now, it’s probably where the internet was in 1996 or 1997. There’s a lot we can do now but there’s a lot that is aspirational too.”

To highlight the opportunities, as well as the challenges, the Blockchain Advisory Council has identified five accelerators and five barriers to blockchain adoption (detailed in the infographic at right). The goal of the infographic—and the council itself—is to evangelize blockchain as a disruptive technology that will impact how business is done in the future, Gitney said. The faster solution providers understand blockchain and its implications for business, the more innovative solutions they can create and bring to market, he said.